


Remembrance

by AvandraTheMarySueSlayer



Category: Bastion (Video Game)
Genre: And some moments between the Kid and Rucks, Evacuation Ending (Bastion), Gen, Reminiscing about the old world, Rucks gets emotional over his past, Rucks is so proud of the Kid, Rucks takes care of everyone in the Bastion, Zia also makes an appearance, Zia is a sweetheart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-05
Updated: 2020-12-05
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:54:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27894163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AvandraTheMarySueSlayer/pseuds/AvandraTheMarySueSlayer
Summary: After the Kid makes his decision, Rucks reminisces about their journey together, which leads him to remember a part of his past that still haunts him, and to ponder about what's to come.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7
Collections: Yuletide 2020





	Remembrance

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Darkhymns](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Darkhymns/gifts).



> Dear Darkhymns, my Yuletide reader,
> 
> I have read your suggestions for prompts and I couldn't help but try to mix them all together, they were so good! I hope you like the result. While this is set in the Evacuation ending, it mostly features memories of the past, before and during the game. I also couldn't resist throwing in a certain game theory... I really, really hope you enjoy this little gift, and that whoever else stumbles upon it likes it, too!

* * *

And there you are, all patched up! Now get some rest kid, Mother knows you deserve it. We’ll have lots to do tomorrow, but I want you to take it easy for now, you hear me? Yes, it’s absolutely necessary! You’re still healin’, fast as you may do it. So rest it is!

Hmm? You want me to sing you a song? Why of course, I know lots! Which one would you like? Huh? The Pantheon? Well… it ain't exactly a lullaby, but if it'll help you rest…

_Gods ain't gonna help you, son_

_You'll be sorry for what you've done_

_Them gods gonna hurt you, son_

_When you play with a loaded gun…_

A couple more verses in and he drifts off like Weeping Nellie. He's got this peaceful smile on his face. I'm just glad he still got reasons to smile like that.

Zia? He's already asleep, but you can leave the food on the nightstand. He's gonna wake up with an appetite. Don't you worry, he'll be alright. He and Zulf both. Let's leave him to rest, shall we?

My, what a view! Not a single fragment of the Old World in the sky. Haven't seen so many stars since before the Calamity. Look, there's the Mother over there! Back in my fightin' days, she'd guide us back home at night. Of course, sometimes she claimed some on the way… we did take her heart after all. Ah, but these are just an old man's ramblings. I must be boring you. Let me tell you 'bout that time the kid beat the triggers' highest score at the hills, huh?

You see, the cabinet's all about balance. You gotta be patient enough to get the best shot, but still fast enough so no one can see you comin'. At Trigger Hills, you got targets to the left, then after a time turrets to the right. If you're not fast enough to be done with the targets by the time the turrets activate… well it doesn't bode well for you. Kid gets to the turrets before they fire their first shot. Gets in position to take two at the same time and still avoids their shots. Takes 'em all down like they're nothin'. Almost teared up a little, I felt so proud. I could tell he did, too. I swear when I told him about the record, he lit up. I'd never seen him so happy before. We celebrated afterward in the distillery well into the night. I think that was the first time I sang the Pantheon song to him. Come on, don't give me that look, I got a bit generous on the Bastion Bourbon, it was a celebration all right! I taught him how to dance to the song, how one would kick the air with Pyth's line, poke their dancin’ partner with Hense's, empty their drink on the other's head with Roathus', mock a scratch to the heart with the Mother's… and he learned well, my clothes stank of Squirt Cider for an entire week!

Ha, ha, he also found it very funny.

You know, all this reminiscin'… it's bringing me back to the old days. Back before I was called in by the mancers. You don't want to hear about ‘em, no more than you have already. Only good thing that came out of that ordeal was the Bastion. A work of love, it was. Which reminds me of what I was 'bout to tell you…

Back in the good ol' days, there was a lass who'd dance with me. Sang sweet like the Mother herself, she did. She was a few good years my junior, but still, she’d always asked me to dance. She also picked the stinkiest drinks to pour on me, then kissed my cheek at the end of the song. I swear, when the kid got this relaxed, happy look after bringing back a core or finishing a training session, I'd sometimes find myself remembering her, how she’d smile at me. That's the number two thing I never told him I miss ‘bout the times before the Calamity… What? No, I didn't mean to keep secrets, it's just… she didn't belong in that list, not technically.

You see, I lost her long before the Calamity. Mancers are made to abandon everything in favor of their work, and they'd seen what I'd done as a mason; it would bring money home, so I accepted. I'll never forget her tearful face when I said goodbye, how she pleaded for me to stay, how she kept sayin' we'd make do… but for all her strength of character and dancin' skills, she was a sickly woman, her medicines weren't easy to come by… So even if I never saw her again, I swore to keep her beautiful heart beatin’. Guess I didn't do so well after all. I was here when the Calamity struck, waiting. When I saw someone with white hair coming up the hill, I was sure it'd be her for a moment… but it was the kid. Not that I’m not glad I met him, no, I owe him so much… but still, it hurt to see she didn’t make it. Got my hopes up in vain.

No, no, Zia, don't you cry. Ah, I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have told you all of that. Hey, listen, we all lost a lot to the Calamity, but we got each other now, right? And this time we're here to stay, wherever the Bastion takes us. Caelondia and the Terminals might be done for, but we carry their memories with us, two Caelondians and two Ura. Fitting, don't you think?

There it is. That's the smile I like to see. Makes me remember why I built this place. It’s a symbol of hope. As long as we can still smile, no matter how dire the circumstances, we still got reason to hope for somethin’ better to come. Sure, sometimes it’s hard to carry on, and we cry. A side effect of memories. Mother knows I wept for my lost love. But look at the memorial over there. A tribute to everything we loved and lost. Why keep it if it brings us pain, you might ask? Well, because everything and everyone we love is worth rememberin’ and keepin’ in our hearts, don’t you agree? Yes, of course I can. Even if it hurts, I remember her fondly. And I always will.

Wait, I just remembered somethin' else. When I finished building the Bastion, briefly before I got word of the real plan for the Calamity, I snuck out to see her. How? Heh, I was a fighter back in the day, remember? Ain't that easy to keep me trapped in a place for long if I don’t wanna stay. So I raced down to the city, to the place where she lived. Just wanted to see how she was doin'. But I only saw a young man leaving, locking the door behind him.

Hold on.

I think… I think he looked like the kid.

**Author's Note:**

> I really hope you enjoyed this. Please do leave your thoughts on it, I would love to hear what you think!
> 
> Though I don't think it's necessarily true and I also like the thought of them being connected by the Bastion and their journey together, I do love the theory that Rucks might be the Kid's father. Since I don't picture him as the type to just leave his family behind, I figured the Kid would have been born shortly after Rucks became a mancer and started building the Bastion, and that the only reason for him to leave would be to get money home for his sick wife (none of them knowing she was pregnant with their son). Maybe those who were supposed to deliver it kept it, like it happened to the Kid when he worked as a mason? Who knows!
> 
> I hope you all have a safe and happy Yule. See you on the next one!


End file.
